53 years ago on this day: A landmark moment in Indian cricket history

India registered its first Test series win abroad on this day exactly 53 years ago On March 12 1968 in Auckland MAK Pataudirsquos men thrashed New Zealand 31 in the fourmatch series on their home soil to create historyIndia were touring New Zealand for the first time and a lot was not expected from the visitors who came into the series on the back of big defeats against England 03 and Australia 04The first Test at Dunedin favoured spin and Indian tweakers comprising Bishan Bedi Bapu Nadkarni and Erapalli Prasanna claimed 11 wickets among themselves The visitors won the opening Test by five wickets for their firstever win away from home 35 years after playing its first Test abroad v England in 1932Opener Graham Dowling 143 and Bevan Congdon 58 put on 155 for the second wicketmdasha then NZ record against Indiamdashto give the hosts a fine start The Kiwis were cruising at 200 for one before Congdon was clean bowled by leftarm orthodox spinner Nadkarni The hosts eventually finished the day on 2485 Mediumpacer Abid Alirsquos 426 restricted New Zealand to 350The Indian batsmen took full advantage of New Zealandrsquos sloppy fielding they went on to drop as many as eight catches as the visitors looked comfortable at 1922 before being reduced to 3029 But no 10 batsman Ramakant Desai 32 not out who fractured his jaw after being hit by rightarm pacer Dick Motz showed tremendous courage He went on to put a 57run stand for the last wicket with Bedi 22 as the tourists posted 359 to take a ninerun leadThe Kiwis struggled against the spin of Prasanna 694 and could only post 208 in the second essay thus setting a 200run target for the visitors With just 39 needed on the final day and seven wickets in hand the morning session was delayed by an hour due to rain But soon after lunch India went on to make history by winning a Test for the first time on foreign soilThe Kiwis made a strong comeback in the second Test at Christchurch Pataudirsquos decision of asking New Zealand to bat first backfired on a pacerfriendly track after openers Bruce Murray and Dowling put on 126 for the first wicket The Kiwis ended the day in a strong position at 2733 Skipper Dowling overnight 135 went on to score a record 239 as the hosts punished India to post a massive 502 In reply the tourists stumbled for 288 With an overall lead of 214 captain Dowling asked India to bat again A brilliant 63 by opener Farokh Engineer followed by 45 and 47 by Rusi Surti and Pataudi respectively took India to 2304 before rightarm pacer Gary Bartlett 638 reduced the visitors to 301 New Zealand chased the 88run target with six wickets in hand to level the series 11Prasannarsquos fivewicket haul in the first innings and six wickets by Nadkarni in the second essay helped India win the third Test at Wellington by eight wickets Batting first the hosts reached 1474 on Day One interrupted by rain and bad light Offie Prasanna claimed five of the remaining six wickets on the second morning as the hosts collapsed to 186 all out Thanks to Ajit Wadekarrsquos maiden century 143 the visitors in reply posted 327mdasha lead of 141New Zealand ended Day Three at 1434 to stay alive in the game But Nadkarni and Prasanna went through the Kiwis lower order to bowl out the hosts for 199 India chased the 59run target for the loss of two wickets to take a 21 lead in the fourmatch seriesPataudirsquos men won the fourth Test at Auckland by a massive 272 runs to register its name in the record books Batting first India lost first two wickets for just 13 but wicketkeeperbatsman Engineer 44 played some fine shots to help India end a rainmarred opening day on 612Pataudirsquos patient 51 and Bordersquos 41 took India to 2095 at lunch but the tourists were soon all out for 252 New Zealand in reply were bowled out for a mere 140 thanks to Prasannarsquos 444 and two wickets each by leftarm pacer Surti and leftarm spinner BediSurti 99 and Borde 65 not out batted beautifully in the second essay to put on a 126run stand for the fifth wicket before the former was dismissed one run short of his maiden Test century India declared their second innings on 2615 after an hourrsquos batting on the final day to hand New Zealand a target of 347 on Day FiveWith Indian spinners turning the ball abruptly New Zealand batsmen made no efforts of staying at the crease Prasanna who picked 24 wickets in the series and Bedi claimed seven wickets among themselves in the second essay to skittle the Kiwis for just 101 in the third session and register a record 31 series win